Spray tube



A. F. STROUSE Oct. 13, 1959 SPRAY TIJBE Filed May 18, 1956 INVENTORY 1149 Zrouse ATTORNEYS United States Patent SPRAY TUBE Arthur F. Strouse,No'rristown, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Strouse, Inc.',Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 18, 1956,Serial 'No. 585,740

1 Claim. (Cl. 239-573) The present invention relates to a spray tube orstem, and more particularly to such a device which is adapted for use inconnection with pressurized dispensing containers of all types. Suchcontainers are now commonly used in spraying or dispensing aerosols andvarious chemicals and compounds.

The pressurized containers with which the invention is associated arecommonly provided 'With an ejection orifice through which the contentsof the can are expelled upon opening of a spring biased valve. Myinvention comprises a spray stem or tube formed of rigid, semi-rigid, orflexible materials including metals and plastics. The tube is insertableinto the ejection orifice of the container and due to the bore of thetube being less than the diameter of the orifice the ejected materialsare atomized eliminating dripping and condensation. The length of thetube or stem, these terms being used herein interchangeably, should besufiicient to be substantially of the length to give the desireddistance of travel of the ejected material beyond the regular orifice.The stem may be bent to direct the spray in a desired direction so as todirect the flow of ejected material to a desired place.

Another feature of the invention is that the ends of the tube insertedinto the orifice is chamfered to permit the easy insertion of the tubeand to prevent the tube from sealing against the internal walls of theorifice carrying member.

The pressurized container is provided with a valve cap or button that isdepressed by finger pressure to open the valve. The ejection orificeabove mentioned extends laterally through the side wall of the cap orbutton. The cap or button is formed of a plastic material such as forexample polyethylene Which has a certain amount of give or resilience sothat when the tube is inserted it will be gripped and firmly held, yetbe easily removable.

The tube or stem is provided as an adjunct to the container and theuser, to adapt the structure for spray action, need only insert the tubein the orifice in the button. Should the stem or tube become clogged itis easily cleaned by blowing through it is a reverse direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure of the classdescribed above which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple to use, andcompletely effective in action.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the followingspecification when considered in the light of the attached drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the invention shown attached to apressurized container.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the invention shown removed from thepressurized container.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssection taken alongthe line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section taken along the line 44 of Figure3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several figures, the referencenumeral 10 indicates generally a pressurized container of the typenormally holding compounds sprayed therefrom under pressure of aerosolgas or the like.

The container 10 has a tubular valve stem 11 projecting upwardly fromthe top12 thereof and is adapted upon downward pressure to actuate avalve (not shown) mounted withinthe pressure container 10 and dispensefluid upwardlythrough' the bore 13 in the stem 11. A cylindrical cap 14is provided with a bore 15 extending inzwardly from one end thereofwhich is adapted to engage over the tubular stem 11, as is shown inFigure 3.

A bore 16 extends inwardly of the cap 14 in communication and axiallyaligned with the bore 15. The bore 16 is somewhat smaller than the bore15 providing a shoulder 17 at their juncture. The shoulder 17 is adaptedto engage the upper terminal end 18 of the tubular stem 11 to permit thecap 14, when moving downwardly on the stem 11, to engage the top 18 ofthe stem 11 so as to depress the stem 11 to actuate the aforementionedvalve. The cap 14 is provided with a transversely extending bore 19which communicates with the bore 16 and extends completely through thecap 14. The bore 19 in the conventional use of the pressure can 10provides an ejection orifice through which the material flowing throughthe bore 13 is dispensed to the atmosphere.

A tubular stem 20 is provided with a relatively elongated centralportion and an outer end portion 21 offset at an angle to the centralportion. The inner end of the stem 20 is chamfered at an angle ofapproximately 45 as at 22. A bore 23 extends completely through thetubular stem 20 from the chamfered end 22 to the offset end 21 providinga passage therethrough for fluid.

The chamfered end 22 of the stem 20 is inserted through the bore 19 ofthe cap 14 so that the inner end of the stem 20 engages the wall of thebore 16 opposite to the bore 19. By chamfering the end 22, the bore 23is maintained out of sealing contact with the walls of the bore 16 sothat fluid can flow readily from the bore 16 through the bore 23.

The use of the stem 20 with the cap 14 in no way detracts from the useof the cap 14 in its conventional fashion so that the stem 20 can beused in such instances and under such conditions as would make itdesirable, such as spraying material from the pressure container 10 intootherwise inaccessible places.

The present invention is of extreme importance and of specialsignificance in respect to the dispensing of products from pressurizedcontainers, particularly the kind which are now sold which usuallycontain from about four to six ounces. It should be understood of coursethat the invention is adaptable to pressurized containers ranging from10 cc. to 6 pounds in capacity and that the bore 23 will be increased indiameter for the larger containers. It is of prime importance in the useof these containers to keep them so far as possible in an uprightposition or in a position where the gas is always behind the product oris blocked ofi from escape by itself as otherwise the gas escapes andleaves a quantity of the product still in the can, which obviously iswasteful. With my invention the contents can be dispensed in any desireddirection while keeping the can in such position that the gas staysbehind the product and does not escape and leave the product behind inthe can.

In some applications of the invention, the discharge end of the stem 20is tapered slightly to facilitate its use. A modification ofthechamfered end 22 can be utilized when desirable by drilling radiallyextending bores adjacent the inner end of the stem 20 which communicateswith the bore 23.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, itshould be understood that numerous structural modifications andadaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope of theappended claim.

What is claimed is:

g A dispenser comprising a pressurized container, a combined dispensingvalve control and hollow discharge stem extending into said container, avalve operating cap mounted on said container and said discharge stem, aspray stem for said operating cap comprising an elongated tubular bodyportion, a chamfered inner end formed on one end of said body portion,and an angularly ofiset tubular end portion formed on the other end 01Esaid body portion, said cap having a vertically extending central boreprojecting inwardly thereof from the lower end thereof and having anejection orifice extending through a side Wall thereof in communicationwith said bore with said stem extending through said ejection orificeand the terminal end of said chamfered end portion engaging the sidewall of said bore at a point diametrically opposed to said orifice.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSLindsey Jan. 9, 1951 2,693,184 Lockhart Nov. 2, 1954 2,715,481 McGhieAug. 16, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 776,666 France Nov. 8, 1934

